Alternative Armies - 15mm Laserburn Aliens

Alternative Armies is a great place for some Old School miniatures for skirmish games.   I painted these guys ages ago, aliens from the Laserburn range.  These are 40 year old miniatures.  I think they still hold up well.  

15mm Laserburn Aliens, from Alternative Armies

First up, the Mrurz.  These guys are obviously a take on the Kzinti.  Large cat-like warriors...what's not to love.  Sadly there are only 3 sculpts, a leader, warrior and a special weapon.  I plan on doing more of these guys though.  They make great "Feral" in Clash on the Fringe.  

Mrurz alien, from Laserburn

Second, the Thulg, large lizard like aliens.  These guys are big.  Bigger than the Khurasan Garn actually.  Again, there are only 3 sculpts, one of which is a power armor leader.  Asia these guys need that.  

Thulg alien, from Laserburn

The Vroof are strange beings, large aliens with vestigial wings.  There are only 2 sculpts. 

Vroof, from Laserburn

The Giant Snave is a large cyborg giant.  No clue what is underneath all that gear.

Giant Snave, from. Laserburn

Finally, the Giant Kron, a large giant of a alien.  Armed with a large energy cannon, he obviously means business.

Giant Kron, from Laserburn 

There are more that I have not photographed, the Space Demons, Froog, Szithk and the Shantek.  Perhaps another day.  

Anyway, all of these are great for skirmish games like Clash on the Fringe, Rogue Scout and Five Parsecs from Home.  They fit perfectly for those who want some nostalgia on their table.

Alternative Armies - Dominator Spheres, Guardians of Dimension X

There are many strange inhabitants of Dimension X, many of them being "Artifical" in nature.  The Dominator Spheres, from Alternative Armies, are the guardians of the Psionic Overlords of that bizarre realm.  

Dominator Spheres by Alternative Armies 

The Spheres are multi are multi part models.  Four arms and a central body.  The arms can be posed in any configuration and are easy to bend to form a variety of poses.

Krang and the Cybernetic Overlords of Dimension X 

I painted the Spheres in a simple metallic scheme.  Nothing fancy.  Unfortunately my phone camera really does not due them justice.  The lighting made them look a lot more shiny than they actually are. 

• Black primer
• Vallejo Real Metal Steel, airbrushed.
• Airbrush highlights with Vallejo Model Air Steel and Chrome.
• Tamiya Clear Red was used on the central eye sensor.
• Washed in Polyshades Tudor.
• Sealed with Vallejo Metal Varnish.
• Tamiya Pigment Titanium was used as a slight highlight on the upper portions.  

These guys fit perfectly with my vision of this alien realm. When used in Alien Squad Leader, they will be the Power Armor guardians for the Cyborg Enslaver command stands.  

Alternative Armies - Space Brains

I picked these small Alien Space Brain guys up a few years ago, mainly to go with "Krang", my Big Alien Space Brain, also by AA.  Krang and his clever minions are the Overlords of an army of cyborg slaves from Dimension X.  That sounds more impressive than it actually is. 

The Psionic Overlords from Dimension X

The paint scheme was simple: Reaper Master Series Rosy Skin triad and Steel, from the Vallejo Real Metal paint line.  This steel is the most realistic version I have ever seen and is super smooth, usable in an airbrush without and thinning. 

The Power armor guards are from Khurasan.

These guys work perfectly as Psionic Masters for Alien Squad Leader.  Plus, they were fun to paint. 

Clear Horizon 15mm Apocalypse Tank

Hello all. No, this blog is not dead. I have been absent online, but I have been painting, now and then this past year.  Remember, I am a lazy blogger. 

So, to restart things a little, here is some vehicle eye candy, the Apocalypse Super Heavy Tank by Clear Horizons.  I painted this beast in the same manner as the mammoth tracked Tohlic APC from Alternative Armies. See my other blog post for this paint recipie.  The only difference is that I washed it in Polyshades Tudor after painting.  There were too many lines and nick knacks on the model to shade completely with an airbrush. 

Clear Horizons 15mm Apocalypse Super Heavy Tank

I added a couple of Old Crow Gladius hover tanks to the mix as well.  They were kicking around and needed a home. 

The paint scheme, a rich red, matches my Laserburn Imperial Troopers.  Since it is Far-Future Sci Fi, realism be damned. 

The Apocalypse measures 100mm x 60mm

Overall I am pleased with the result. It goes with the Tohlic APC and gives my Laserburn Imperial Troops some much needed punch. 

15mm Sci Fi - Alternative Armies TOHLIC ARMOURED CRAWLER

Well, I am finally back to painting 15mm Sci Fi stuff.  My WIP pile is rather large, with buildings and vehicles needing paint jobs.  So, naturally I decided to pick the biggest model in the pile, the Tohlic Armored Crawler from Alternative Armies.

Tohlic Armored Crawler from Alternative Armies.

This is a beast of a vehicle, an all resin model over 105mm x 80mm x 40mm.  Assembly was simple two hull segments, 2 track segments, 2 turrets and two rear engine ports.  Unfortunately however both vehicles had a hull segment which was very slightly miscast at an angle.  That made lining up the hull and track segments difficult.  The gap on one of the vehicles was quite large and I had to make shims from scrap model material to close the gap enough in order to fill it with putty.  Annoying but not impossible and to be expected with resin.  While both turrets are fine I wanted both a main gun and missile armament (picky I am).  Luckily I have many spare barrels from Old Crow vehicles so it was just a matter of fixing a suitable one to the center of the missile turret.  

These models reminded me of the original 40K Land Raider model from the 1990s.  Therefore they were assigned to my Laserburn Imperial Troops which are Proto-40K Space Marines.  Since my Imperials were red these vehicles would be given a similar scheme....because Space Marines!

Here is the post for those interested in how I painted my Laserburn Imperials.

15mm Sci Fi Small Soldiers: 15mm Sci Fi - Alternative Armies Laserburn Imperial Assault Group (darebearsminiemporium.blogspot.com)

Covered by heavy plasma fire, Imperial troops advance to the assault on Iconia IV.

The paint scheme was simple.  All were airbrushed.

• Primed Vallejo Black
• Tamiya Hull Red Basecoat.
• Games Workshop Contrast Flesh Tearers Red on all exposed areas, leaving the Hull Red in the recesses.

I then used a series of highlights in the center of all the panels, each being smaller in area than the last.

• Vallejo Model Air Red 
• Vallejo Game Air Bloody Red 
• Games Workshop Air Scarlet Red 
• Vallejo Model Air Light Red

The tracks were painted with Vallejo Real Steel (this line is for airbrushes, but it goes on well with a brush too....very smooth) then washed with Mig Track Wash.  I also used various Mig Filters such as Brown for Dark Yellow, Subtle Dirt and General Dust in various areas.  Filters tint the base color very slightly, allowing for interesting effects and gradual color changes to key areas.  

Alclad Gloss Varnish was then airbrushed on as a sealer.  Being a lacquer this darkened up all the colors, creating a rich vibrant red.  Decals were then applied, followed by weathering powders.  Vallejo Pigment binder was airbrushed onto the areas in question, followed by various pigments applied by brush.  I finished them off with Tamiya Weathering Pigments, specifically along the panel lines and edges.

The top of the vehicles seem to have storage areas.  So, to cover up some of the more unsightly gaps (and my many mistakes) I used my tried and true technique: Vehicle Stowage.  

The vehicles are big enough IMO to accommodate an entire Laserburn Imperial Assault Group: 60 troops in total.  I still need to do something with the top side sensor pod lenses.  Not sure what yet.  

This is a big vehicle, not suited for everyone.  However, I was looking for something huge and imposing for my Imperial troops and this model fit the bill perfectly.  One of these could easily transport an entire platoon of infantry or a power armor platoon.  

A+.

15mm Sci Fi - Alternative Armies Cyborg Enslavers

 Cyborgs are a staple of science fiction.  Sadly, my collection lacked some of these basic arch-types for awhile.  Well, no longer.  

Today I finally got around to painting a small sample pack of Cyborg Enslavers I purchased from Alternative Armies some time ago.  The details are adequate and the five poses are suitable enough for various skirmish games without being too repetitive (although I would like to see this range expanded).  

Alternative Armies Cyborg Enslavers

"We are the Borg. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile." 

The paint scheme was very simple:

• Vallejo Mecha Black Primer
• Vallejo Real Metal Steel
• Vallejo Chrome for bits and pieces.
• Washed Black.
• Reaper Tanned Flesh & Tanned Flesh Highlight
• Vallejo German Camo Black Brown and White for the eyes
• Various Reds, Blues and Greens for accents.

Lately I have been focusing on eyes.  They turned out surprising well and were rather simple to do.  

Just don't breath while doing them.

I will be adding another 50 or so guys to this small group in the near future for various games like Alien Squad Leader, Five Parsecs and Clash on the Fringe.  

15mm Sci Fi - Alternative Armies Galactic Knights

 I had these guys kicking around for some time: Galactic Knights, from Alternative Armies.  The range consists of 4 poses.  They are comparable in size to older GZG figures and the quality was excellent, with little cleanup required.  

There are 4 poses in the range, making them suitable as squad leaders for good/evil trooper legions, and as characters in skirmish games.  Personally, they remind me of someone I might meet in the Rifts RPG.  

Alternative Armies Galactic Knights

To make things simple I went with a neutral color scheme:

• Vallejo Model Color Ivory, washed with Sepia ink (I could have skipped the wash and used a MIG Product instead, which as their Neutral Wash or their Grey Filter for White).
• Vallejo Model Color German Grey on the Cloak, Boots and Gloves, highlighted with Vallejo Dark Sea Green and Blue Grey Pale.
• Swords painted in Contrast Warpstone Green, then highlighted with Vallejo Model Color Lime ,Yellow Green and Pale Sand.
• Other bits and pieces picked out as needed (Vallejo Red, Scarlet, Orange, Gold and Leather Browns).
• Ivory was then re-highlighted with Vallejo Ivory, Off White and White.
• MIG Enamel Neutral Wash was used in some recessed areas and Reaper Master Series Brown Liner was used to black-line various areas.

They are interesting models that would work well as either Good or Evil Space Knights.  

15mm Sci Fi - Five Parsecs from Home Characters, Part 2

Continuing from my last post.....

Although I had no "characters" specifically painted for Five Parsecs from Home, I did have several thousand other figures painted from various ranges.  These are but a small sample of models which will likely be used in games, both as friends and foes.

Although I have tons of robots, I did not have anything that really stood out as "Soulless" figures.  However, I did have 12 Rebel Minis Androids kicking around which I never bothered to paint.  They fit the bill nicely.  

Khurasan Lhurgg make excellent Feral aliens (anything wielding both a rifle and a sword while completely nude with their dick flopping around under the Altair sun looks pretty feral to me).  

Alternative Armies Asgard Space Marines, Khurasan Lhurgg, GZG Robot and Rebel Minis Androids.

Alternative Armies Asgard Human Scouts make rather interesting villains and space wizards.

Last year I painted a large force of GZG Mercenaries, in a tan pattern.  They make excellent generic troops or the core of a player mercenary ship crew.  Some head swaps make the range of poses more interesting.  

GZG Kra'Vak are a suitable stand-in for K'Erin.  

The sheer number of characters and dangers in Five Parsecs is staggering.  There are literally dozens of different types of aliens, foes and dangers.  Newer players will be forced to proxy until their collection expands (we all start this way).  There is little need to collect everything possible however...a little imagination goes a long way.  

Luckily I  have many figures already done to choose from: GZG Phalons, Ixx, Xar are great as "Manipulators" or even "Precursors"; GZG Crusties (both warriors and civilians) are useful in a variety of roles; GZG Alien Mercs fit nicely as Brutes or K'Erin.   Alternative Armies Greys make great Abductors or Engineers; Alternative Armies Post Apocalyptic figures are useful as Planetary Nomads and assorted Primitive Scum; GZG Unarmed Colonists for passengers and general misanthropes.  (although they are unarmed we an assume they have Concealed Carry Permits).  Finally, Khurasan is an excellent source for humanoid aliens and monsters of various sorts.

15mm Sci Fi - Five Parsecs from Home Characters

 The last month has been a busy one for me.  I do not normally paint a lot of individual character models.  My focus is typically on platoon based games.  Five Parsecs from Home changed that.

Designed by Ivan Sorensen (my favorite game designer), Five Parsecs finally allows me a true solo game experience without the fuss.  Set in the same universe as Clash on the Fringe, it reminds me of the days of Laserburn and Traveller.  

The problem was that I really did not have any characters painted up.  So, this past month has been a furious painting ordeal to get all of the stuff I have had lying around for years done.  First off is a selection of Alternative Armies figures.  This company produces a fascinating range of models from all eras.  To be honest, if you could shop here for everything you  need for Five Parsecs and not be disappointed.  

All  manner of scum can be found at "Lucky Stars", the dingiest saloon in the Outer Rim.

Remember, I do not claim to be a great painter.  Sometimes I suck....and sometimes I pull off something magnificent.  Its just how I roll.

"Bow to Emperor Ming and his alien worm minon!"

The figures from AA range from human scum to the larger reptilian Thulg and the feline Mrurz.  

Captain Lucien prefers to shoot first and not bother with questions.  Flash Gordon prefers to enter combat blindfolded.  Sometimes he even hits is foes (...or friends in the back of the head).   

Alien Cyborgs and assorted space trash linger, hoping for the next big score.

The problem I have with figures like this is that I never know what the hell they are supposed to look like.  

Captain Braxton, "Humanity, fuck yeah!"

Thulg mercenaries are always eager to fight and eat....or just plain eat.

Next up are a selection of GZG figures, mainly Armed Colonists.  

GZG Armed Colonists

Lately I have been attempting eyes on 15mm.  Yes I am insane.  

The yellow guy in back is my tribute to Reggie Bannister from the Phantasm films. 

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I took inspiration for some of these figures from the Alien movies.

The only thing left I have to finish is roughly 50 gang members from AA and GZG.  That will complete almost all of my 15mm infantry inventory (yes that means I am done).